Chuck Colson, a Christian luminary, serious Christ-follower, and prison reformer, died Saturday April 21, 2012, of medical complications after he became ill while speaking a few weeks earlier.

The first time I heard about Chuck Colson was in the 1970’s. I brought his book “Born Again” to work; I was a young MBA graduate, a new Christian, and too immature to grapple with the skepticism of the world. “Chuck Colson is a crook!” My co-worker Gary, about 15 years older than me, insisted. Almost 40 years later, when the media covers the news about Colson’s death, the skepticism still dominates the reporting.

• LA Times remembers the pre-conversion Colson as Richard Nixon’s “hatchet man,” the president’s “evil genius,” who by his own admission was “ruthless in getting things done” in the Watergate years.

• Fox News remembers that, in 1972, the Washington Post called him “one of the most powerful presidential aides, variously described as a troubleshooter and as a ‘master of dirty tricks,” but balances their reporting with credits to Colson’s dedicating his time and talents to the cause of Christ through prison ministry. They cited Michael Cromartie, director of the Evangelical Studies Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, who said he’s certain Colson’s faith was genuine. Cromatie said, “When Colson emerged from prison, “he had a lot of offers to do other things that would have made him a lot of money”, but he wanted to serve people who had been “forgotten” in society.

• USA Today barely made mention of his conversion but focuses their report entirely on Colson’s wrongdoings in the past.

My purpose of writing about Chuck Colson is not to debate whether or not he has done wrong in the past. The judiciary system, and history itself, have already determined that Colson has done wrong in the Watergate scandal; Colson himself had admitted wrong and had paid retribution by serving time in prison. I write about Colson because there are a few lessons Christians can learn from Colson’s conversion.

1. The world will always harbor cynicism and skepticism. People look at themselves and find it difficult to change themselves. They look at others and condemn or judge others for their shortcomings. They find it hard to believe that people can really change from the inside out.

2. The world is correct when they don’t believe that people can change from the inside out. This is exactly what the Bible teaches: that only the Spirit of God can transform us and make us new.

3. The world will always be watching. In Mt. 7:16, Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” Our faith is not authenticated by our words but by our actions. This should be a wake-up call for us to examine our lives and live lives that are worthy of God’s calling.

4. God transforms the worst scum of the earth in order to show the world his power and glory. The Boston Globe (quoted in Foxnews) wrote in 1973, “If Mr. Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everyone.” Indeed “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Cor. 1:27)

5. We can see God’s hope and redemption for us only when we see our own brokenness and poverty. After all, why would we want to fix ourselves when we don’t think we’re broken? I used to point my righteous finger at other people’s imperfections and I said, “God doesn’t exist!” It was when I opened my eyes to see my own brokenness and spiritual bankruptcy that I saw my need for God. Perhaps my coworker Gary, who was divorced and had a very troubled relationship with his estranged wife and children, would some day see his brokenness and his need for Jesus Christ.

What have you learned about faith in Jesus Christ? What does conversion mean to you? What did you learn from Chuck Colson’s conversion?

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